Oak Ridge Today

League of Women Voters lobbyist will review actions in state legislature this year

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Stewart Clifton

Stewart Clifton

Stewart Clifton, lobbyist for the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, will review major actions in the state legislature this year during a lunchtime talk in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

Stewart Clifton will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, May 16, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The community is invited to attend.

In this presentation, he will review important actions of the recently completed Tennessee General Assembly, a press release said. Some attention will be given to a discussion of legislative advocacy skills. There will be time for questions and answers, the release said.

Lunch with the League is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, and it is open to the public. There is no cost to attend, and reservations are not needed, the press release said. Box lunches will be available starting at 11:30 a.m. on a first-come basis for $8, or you may bring your own. Coffee and tea are provided. [Read more…]

Community forum on immigration is Thursday

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De Ann Pendry

De Ann Pendry

There will be a community forum on immigration in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

A press release said the forum will provide information on how immigration has been affected by current politics and the issue of living without documentation in Oak Ridge.

The main speaker will be De Ann Pendry, a senior lecturer and adjunct assistant professor in anthropology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The forum is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in the sanctuary at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The forum is free, and the public is invited, the press release said. It’s sponsored by Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge, or WIDOR; Oak Ridge Interfaith Partnership, or ORIP and the League of Women Voters, or LWV. [Read more…]

Letter: Understanding process, significance of changing Anderson County government

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By Mary Ann Reeves

The Tennessee constitution and subsequent legislature lays the ground for changing the the government of a county (e.g. Anderson County) from its constitutional form to a charter form (also known as home rule).

To make this change in Anderson County three things must happen:

  • A charter commission must be created. There are several ways that this is permissible but the one selected was by the petition of registered voters whose number must at least equal to 10 percent of the total number of votes cast in the county in the last governor’s race. In Anderson County, 17,760 votes were cast for governor; therefore 1,776 signatures were required (and obtained) on the petition.
  • The election of the Charter Commission members. The election for the candidates must be held 75 days or more after the resolution becomes effective. The charter commissioners are elected from the same districts and in the same manner as the county commissioners. The cost of the election is paid out of county funds. In Anderson County, the Charter Commission election is concurrent with the general election (November 8) and Anderson County will incur no cost. The elected charter commissioners will set a budget and they may incur expenses for administrative costs up to a maximum of $50,000. These expenses will be paid by Anderson County.
  • Voters must approve any changes in the form of Anderson county government recommended by the Anderson County charter commissioners. Anderson County voters must approve, via a referendum, any recommended changes by the charter commission. The referendum will be done concurrently with the August 2018 election to avoid additional costs to the county. This will be a “for” or “against” vote.

[Read more…]

Charter Commission candidates debate term limits, reducing County Commission, electing law director

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anderson-county-oak-ridge-charter-commission-candidates-collage

Seven candidates for Anderson County Charter Commission sparred over term limits, cutting the Anderson County Commission almost in half, and electing the law director during a public forum in Oak Ridge in October. The candidates, all from three Oak Ridge districts, are pictured above. They are, from top left, top row, Marjorie Mott Lloyd, Steve Mead, Kathy Moore, Theresa Scott, and from bottom left, bottom row, Bob Smallridge, David Stanley, and Hugh Ward. (Photos by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Candidates for Anderson County Charter Commission sparred over term limits, cutting the Anderson County Commission almost in half, and electing the law director during a public forum this month.

There was also a heated exchange over whether two candidates—both county commissioners, including one in her first term and another halfway through his second—are permanent officeholders.

The seven candidates are running for three seats on the eight-member Anderson County Charter Commission in the November 8 election.

The debate over term limits has focused on whether the limits are necessary, whether they would encourage more young people to run for office, and whether Anderson County voters already have the right to impose term limits through elections, among other arguments for and against.

As proposed during the campaign, there could be a two-term limit on county commissioners and the county mayor. However, nothing will be official until the Charter Commission is elected next month, and the Charter Commission is not obligated to consider the proposal. Whether the commission even considers term limits could depend upon which candidates are elected. Any changes proposed by the Charter Commission will be considered by voters in November 2018. If approved, they would go into effect in September 2019. [Read more…]

League of Women Voters cancels Tuesday candidate forum

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The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has canceled the candidate forum that had been scheduled for Tuesday, October 18. The forum was for Tennessee legislative and Third District congressional candidates.

The League of Women Voters said it announced the cancellation “with extreme regret.”

Several of the candidates were unable to attend due to prior commitments or other issues, a press release said. [Read more…]

Online voter information site available for November elections

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VOTE411.org, an online voter information guide for November 2016 elections, is now available to all citizens of Oak Ridge. Sponsored locally by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, VOTE411 began in 2006 at the national League level. Nearly 300 local leagues are now participating, a press release said.

The site allows users to compare candidates for office in their district, select their choices, and create a ballot summary that they can print out, take with them to the polling place, or share.

After accessing www.VOTE411.org, a user is prompted to enter his or her address, which is used to identify one’s voting district from federal and state geographic information system (GIS) data. The races provided should be identical to those on the ballot for that voting district. The address information and candidate selections provided by users will not be collected or retained. [Read more…]

League of Women Voters having three candidate forums

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The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is having three candidate forums in October.

The first will be on Tuesday, October 4, at the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater. This will include the candidates for the Oak Ridge Board of Education and the Oak Ridge City Council. It will be from 7 to 9 p.m. October 4 with candidates being briefed at 6:45 p.m.

The second forum will be on Thursday, October 6, at Roane State Community College City Room on the Oak Ridge campus. This will include the Oak Ridge candidates for the Anderson County Charter Commission. To begin the forum, there will be a short presentation from a subject matter expert on the process of reviewing and changing a county charter. This forum will be from 7 to 9 p.m., with candidates being briefed at 6:45 p.m. [Read more…]

Active in community organizations, former Council member seeks to serve again

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Anne Garcia Garland

Anne Garcia Garland

 

She was the first to pick up a petition and the first to qualify for the 2016 ballot, and now Anne Garcia Garland, a former Oak Ridge City Council member, has formally announced her desire to serve again, a press release said. She’s running for one of three seats on the seven-member Council in the November 8 election.

In the press release, Garcia Garland said she has no business or political agenda, only a continuing desire “to be responsive and accountable to the citizens and help this city thrive.”

She said her primary goals for the city are to:

  1. seek a clear return on investment in commercial and industrial development outlays,
  2. focus on what the community does exceedingly well in education and city management,
  3. develop an equitable relationship with U.S. Department of Energy headquarters, and
  4. publicize the extraordinary assets the city already enjoys to a much wider audience of prospective residents and visitors.

Garcia Garland said she works affably with corporate, government, and private organizations. She is active in the League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, United Church Chapel on the Hill, and the NAACP. Before retiring, she and her husband T.J. Garland established Noble Metals Inc., a small business that recycles metal scrap and continues to employ local workers. [Read more…]

National League of Women Voters president to be special guest in Oak Ridge

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Elisabeth MacNamara

Elisabeth MacNamara

Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, will be the special guest of the Oak Ridge League for its 70th Birthday Party on April 29. The celebration will be held at Calhoun’s Event Center, which is at 100 Melton Lake Peninsula in Oak Ridge, starting at 5:30 p.m. April 29.

Wanda Sobieski, Knoxville attorney and suffragette history authority, will be the guest speaker, and 50-year Oak Ridge League members will be honored during the celebration.

MacNamara was elected the 18th president of the U.S. League in 2010 and was re-elected for a third term in 2014. She joined the League in 1983 and has served in leadership roles at all levels—local, state, and national. She is a longtime resident of DeKalb County, a suburb of Atlanta. Professionally, she is an attorney, recently retired as deputy chief assistant district attorney in charge of the office’s juvenile court division in DeKalb County.

MacNamara will present a 70th birthday proclamation from Governor Bill Haslam. [Read more…]

Public invited to League’s holiday luncheon on Sunday

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Stewart Clifton

Stewart Clifton

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge has a holiday luncheon on Sunday, December 6, and the public is invited, a press release said. The luncheon is at Burchfield’s at the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Ridge.

The invitation is being extended to anyone interested in learning how the LWVOR and other League chapters across the state strive to make democracy work for Tennessee residents, the press release said.

The invited guest speaker, Stewart Clifton, will discuss the League’s work in Tennessee on issues such as education, climate change, homelessness, hazardous waste, mental health, immigration, and others that affect our families and communities, the release said. [Read more…]

Immigration in U.S. to be discussed at Lunch with League 

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De Ann Pendry

De Ann Pendry

A University of Tennessee lecturer and adjunct assistant professor will discuss immigration in the United States during a lecture on Tuesday, September 15.

De Ann Pendry is a senior lecturer and adjunct assistant professor in anthropology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Immigration has been an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, and it is relevant to the local, state, and national League of Women Voters, a press release said.

Pendry will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League at noon, Tuesday, September 15, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Lunch with the League: Amending the U.S. Constitution

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Theodore Brown Jr.

Theodore Brown Jr.

A senior lecturer at the University of Tennessee will discuss the process of amending the U.S. Constitution during a lunchtime meeting in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

Theodore Brown Jr., a senior lecturer in UT’s Department of Political Science, will be the guest speaker at Lunch with the League on Tuesday, May 19. The program starts at noon in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The Constitution of the United States was ratified on June 21, 1788. In the 227 years since then, there have been thousands of proposals to amend the Constitution, but only 33 obtained the necessary two-thirds vote in Congress and only 27 (including the Bill of Rights) have been ratified, a press release said. Amendments can also be proposed by constitutional conventions called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures.

Brown will discuss and clarify issues surrounding the state-initiated process of amending the Constitution, the release said. His presentation will set the stage for a nationwide study of the amendment process by the League of Women Voters. [Read more…]